A Heartwarming Christmas, A World Away

"Mauritius was made first, then heaven was copied from it." - Mark Twain

When I was a child, our family followed very specific Christmas traditions that I enjoyed so much I still follow many of them to this day.

We children (ultimately five of us) would wake up early on Christmas morning as excited as it is possible to be. Absolutely bursting with anticipation. But, did we run madly down the stairs to see what Santa had left for us? No. We did not. We waited at the top of the stairs until our parents gave us the go-ahead to come down.

And how amazing all the gifts looked under our tree! The night before there had been only a few wrapped packages but in the morning there were so many presents that they spilled out from under the branches. They looked wonderful and they stayed looking that way for as long as possible.

We were allowed to open our stockings and one gift each – one at a time – and then there was a break for breakfast. At the time it seemed an impossibly long interruption, but it really was a great way to increase our already sky high levels of excitement.

After breakfast we would scurry eagerly back to the living room where our Dad would hand out one gift at a time and we would all take the time to really notice and appreciate each and every present.

Having had such great memories of Christmas morning, I wanted to create the same for my four children so we followed the same tradition of gift opening. And ever since he was 14 years old, my elder son, Ben, has donned a Santa cap and carefully handed out the family’s gifts one by one.

Except for last year. Ben and his girlfriend, Kim, spent last Christmas in a tropical paradise. They travelled to Mauritius, a tiny island in the middle of the southern Indian Ocean – an island bursting with vibrant colours both from plants and from paint. And what a Christmas Day Ben had! So completely different from any other Christmas including seeing skinny Black Santas in shorts and enjoying an exquisite open-air dinner at a restaurant on the pristine, sandy beach.

Well, back here in London, we were having our traditional day with my younger son, Daniel, filling in as Santa. In the mid-afternoon as I was relaxing between the gift opening and the dinner preparation, the phone rang. It was Ben. Instead of the usual greeting exchange he quickly said, “Please write down this number and call me right back, OK? I’m at someone’s house.” Then, he gave me the number, I wrote it down, and we hung up.

I called him back right away and his ebullient positive energy flooded right through the phone lines to me. His extreme happiness was palpable and contagious. What a treat.

Apparently Ben had bought a long distance phone card so he could call us on Christmas Day. But later in the evening when he tried calling from a pay phone, the card would not work and the operator said he would have to call from a land line.

So, Ben went off on a mission to find a phone and was feeling highly determined to succeed. While walking down a random street, he happened upon a Creole-speaking extended Mauritian family celebrating Christmas with a festive party in their front yard. (Not a very common occurrence in Canada!)

Fortunately, they knew enough English to understand Ben’s request. He wanted so much to call his family on Christmas Day and he had a calling card but just needed a home phone.

They immediately took him inside to their phone, but refused to let him use the card – even though he was a complete stranger of another race and culture who was planning to call a place half-way around the globe.

Once I had called Ben back, he recounted some of the details of his day, then he suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, wow! Thank you so much!” He couldn’t believe it, but the man of the house had just handed him a whisky on the rocks, accompanied with a very big smile. After just a few minutes, he paused once again for some more exuberant thank yous as they had brought him a plate of delicious, spicy Mauritian food.

So, we talked for a bit longer and Ben spoke with his siblings, then we wished each other a Merry Christmas and he was invited to join the party with his new-found Mauritian friends. He says they went far, far beyond hospitality. The entire family, in fact, focused their entire concentration on him and treated him like a king.

Astonishingly (as always) the year has slipped by far too quickly and we are once again approaching Christmas. And this year – whether with snow or without – it will most certainly be too cold for our family to do any celebrating on our front lawn. But this week, as Ben puts on the Santa cap and hands out this year’s presents, we will remember to send some good vibes to a generous family in far-off Mauritius whose pure and genuine kindness to a stranger gave Ben an amazing Christmas gift that will never, ever be forgotten.

Mauritian Mocha Spice Squares

Mauritius is a very multicultural island which has created very diverse and delicious culinary traditions. France has had a strong influence on their desserts and many contain such island staples as vanilla, cinnamon and rum. This recipe contains all of these items plus other spices, coffee and chocolate. How could it be anything other than delectable? Since it's the holiday season, I think these squares would be just perfect with a hot mug of coffee topped off with a little Bailey's. Enjoy!

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/mocha-spice-squares/

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Diane